Home security low on house move priorities

Digital reporter

More than one in ten people regularly go out without locking windows and doors.

And home security is 43rd on the list of things we think about when moving house.

The number one priority when moving house is easy parking, followed by concerns over the council tax banding.

But the issue of home security comes extremely low on the list, below considerations like whether neighbours would be able to see them sunbathing in the garden.

Family-minded Brits are also far more concerned about how close they’ll be to mum and dad than how safe they’ll be in the new property.

Broadband speed is a key consideration and 48 per cent factor in how noisy the neighbours are likely to be, while the ‘class’ of neighbours is important to 22 per cent.

One in five don’t want to move into a property which has young children next door and many check if the neighbours could see them sunbathing in the garden.

Whether or not a king-size bed will fit in the master bedroom and the sofa will fit through the patio doors also feature in the top 50 list.

Over a third admit the last time they moved house they were more preoccupied about where things would go in the new property than home security.

A further 64 per cent admit they don’t have much outside lighting, 57 per cent don’t have any trusted neighbours to keep an eye on the property and 73 per cent don’t think to put lights and radios on timers when they go away.

The statistics came from a poll of 2,000 adults by home security specialists Yale.

TOP 50 MOVING PRIORITIES

1. Ease of parking

2. Council tax

3. How much it would cost you in total

4. How noisy the neighbours are

5. How recently the boiler was fitted

6. Local crime rates

7. Nearest supermarket

8. What the neighbours are like

9. If radiators work

10. Bus services

11. Broadband speed

12. Nearest GP

13. Efficiency of home energy

14. How far away from my friends I’d live

15. What types of supermarkets are nearby

16. Length of commute

17. Amount of decorating involved

18. Removal costs

19. How far away from mum and dad I’d live

20. Changing my address on everything

21. Whether I could fit all of my belongings in the new house

22. Number/location of plug sockets

23. Whether the property is close enough for existing friends to still visit

24. Whether immediate neighbours have children who are likely to scream